Lawyers e-Journal

Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012

Volunteer as an attorney coach or judge during the 2013 MBA Mock Trial season

As the Mock Trial Program enters its 28th year, we
hope you will volunteer as an attorney-coach or a judge during the
2013 season. The goal of the program is to further an understanding
of the law, court procedures and our legal system while helping
students hone their analytical, listening and speaking skills. The
program also seeks to promote better communication and cooperation
between the school community and the legal profession.

Using a hypothetical case developed by the MBA's Mock Trial
Committee, students begin preparing for their three preliminary
round trials as early as November. This year's case is an
old-fashioned murder mystery. The victim, a wealthy widow with no
children of her own, dies from a heart attack shortly after
informing her heirs that she is giving half of her estate to a
charity, and her live-in caregiver will receive a remaining equal
share with the grandnieces and grandnephews. The prosecution
asserts that the defendant, one of her grandnephews, poisoned her
by tampering with her medication to cause the heart attack. The
defense asserts that the heart attack was natural, or that if it
wasn't, she was murdered by her live-in caretaker or another
relative who was upset by the significant reduction in his share of
the estate. Can the prosecution prove the charge beyond a
reasonable doubt, or will the defense be able to poke enough holes
to prevent the case from being proven to a moral certainty?

This year, the program has a record number of high schools
participating this year. With this increase of new high
school registrants, there is a need for additional attorney-coaches
to assist the teams.

The following schools are still in need of an attorney-coach:

Arlington High School, Arlington

Bartlett Jr Sr High School, Webster

Bellingham High School, Bellingham

Boston Collegiate Charter School, Dorchester

Bromfield School, Harvard

Brookline High School, Brookline

Foxborough Regional Charter School, Foxboro

Four Rivers Charter Public School, Greenfield

Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School, Devens

Jeremiah E. Burke High School, Boston

Lee Middle and High School, Lee

Lexington High School, Lexington

Lynn Vocational & Technical Institute, Lynn

Narragansett Regional High School, Baldwinville

Needham High School, Needham

If you would like to volunteer as an attorney-coach for any of
the above listed schools, we will contact the school and provide
them with your information. The time-commitment is based on both
your schedules and the teachers, but the trials begin at the end of
January and run through the end of March, depending on the success
of the individual teams. The schools may need your assistance any
time between now and the end of the season to help prepare for
upcoming trials.

If you are unable to volunteer as an attorney-coach for Mock
Trial, we are also recruiting attorneys to act as judges during the
tournament. The yearly Judge's Orientation is scheduled on
Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the MBA, 20 West St.,
Boston.

If you are interested in
participating as an attorney-coach or a judge, please contact Mock
Trial Central at (617) 338-0570 or mocktrial.